To control a teething pup’s urge to chew on everything in sight, your approach should depend entirely on your puppy’s age.
For young pups (8 to 16 weeks) this is the explorative stage, not the manipulation stage where the rules shift every so slightly. Be gentle with your puppy, and make sharing fun.
Curious and happy, a young puppy embraces life and explores every nuance with his mouth. It’s not naughty or disrespectful; it’s a good sign of a normal development. Your goal at this age is to encourage sharing skills. When your puppy finds what he considers to be a treasure (yes, everything is a treasure to your puppy), teach him to show it to you. Avoid corrections, as this puppy is not old enough to comprehend your thoughts, and at most you’ll communicate prize envy: that his treasure is a prize that everyone wants to steal.
To condition sharing:
Any time your puppy has an object (good, bad, or indifferent), act really excited. In our house, we said, "Whoopsie, what did you find? Good girl!"
As you’re saying this, do one or more of the following:
- Wear a snack pack so you have rewards available to you at all times.
- Clap your hands and crouch down in a non-threatening pose.
- Use a treat cup and shake it as you approach your puppy. As he gives up the treasure, reward him and say, "Thank you for sharing!"
This approach ensures that your puppy will welcome your interaction with his "treasures," rather than covet them alone or run from you. The goal is cooperation, not confrontation.
Older puppies (16 weeks and older) are in the manipulative stage. Fortunately, this lot can learn the concept of NO. Puppies who learn the concept of NO can also be taught to retrieve specific objects, eventually. If you teach your puppy the concept of NO, he’ll learn that only his toys are acceptable to mouth. Have you ever said "NO" to your puppy? Do you find yourself repeating it often, saying it louder and louder, thinking that intimidation might be the ticket? And yet you notice little retention or, in some cases, that the mischief is actually getting worse. Well, here’s why: your puppy hears NO as a trigger word for confrontational play. Grabbing a specific object guarantees interaction. So, we need to restructure your delivery. To teach it properly, rig the following situation:
- With your puppy out of sight, place a shoe or a paper towel in the center of the floor.
- Bring your puppy into the room on a leash.
- The instant he alerts you to the object, tug back on his leash and say, NO, in your normal directional tone. Do not yell or modify your voice!
- Next correct the object. You read this right. Correct the object: pick it up and shake it, stomp on it, saying, BAD SHOE, BAD SHOE.
- Stay focused on the object. It, not your puppy, is bad.
- Walk by it. Walk by it again and again.
- If your puppy shows interest, repeat this from the top. If not, praise and redirect him to his station: "Let’s go find your BONE/TOY!"
Excerpted from Puppy Perfect: The User-Friendly Guide to Puppy Parenting, published by Howell Book House, Wiley Publishing Inc., Hoboken, N.J. Copyright 2006. Reprinted by permission.
